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Voice for Equality: Deval Patrick

The latest nomination for "Voices for Equality" is Deval Patrick, who was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 after working for the Clinton administration as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

A strong supporter of marriage equality, Governor Patrick stood against placing an anti-marriage referendum on the Massachusetts ballot: "People come before their government as equals... If the government is going to give marriage licenses to anyone, it has to give them to everyone, regardless of whether the spouse you choose is of the same gender."

In 2008, he also overturned a 1913 anti-miscegenation law, effectively allowing same-sex couples from out of state marry in Massachusetts. Also in 2008, Patrick's daughter publicly came out as lesbian.

Governor Patrick was nominated by Jonathan Herczeg to be a Voice for Equality.